


a silence of apotropaic symphonies

by nadiavandyne



Category: DCU (Comics), Red Robin (Comics), The Wicked + The Divine
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Gen, two bros... chilling in a bludhaven bar... five ft apart so they don't kill each other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:27:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26682178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nadiavandyne/pseuds/nadiavandyne
Summary: Sakhmet is sober.Ormostlysober,kind ofsober,a good deal moresober thanusual. There’s no way to know her blood-alcohol level without a breathalyzer test, and Tim’s not about to try that one out. He values his limbs, thank you very much.
Kudos: 3





	a silence of apotropaic symphonies

Sakhmet is sober.

Or _mostly_ sober, _kind of_ sober, _a good deal more_ sober than _usual_. There’s no way to know her blood-alcohol level without a breathalyzer test, and Tim’s not about to try that one out. He values his limbs, thank you very much.

Sakhmet’s soberness is directly proportional to how violent she is, and it’s only the training and experience that he has that’s allowed him to manipulate the cat-goddess out of mass murder.

It’s a little like being around Pru, except for the fact that her violence level is indirectly proportional to how sober she is.

Tim— and it’s _Tim_ , he can’t allow himself to slip, he can’t _fail_ — is currently watching Sakhmet drink coffee with only a moderate-to-high amount of whiskey poured in, as she glares at him. The diner is completely void of human beings, an abandoned place on the outskirts of Bludhaven. Tim brought the coffee. Sakhmet brought the whiskey.

They aren’t friends. But occasionally she’s willing to humor him, and Tim has no problem taking full advantage of that.

“Ananke found someone last night,” he states, looking down at his nails so not to provoke her. He's still wearing the dark green polish Tam bullied him into putting on a few weeks ago. Somehow, it isn’t chipped.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he catches Sakhmet raise a singular eyebrow in response. She seems tense, but it's her usual tense, born from anger, not stress or any other emotion.

He can recognize her anger easily, it's like the animosity of being around Jason, just less personal. Sakhmet’s a bit too drunk to actually care about acting on it, anyway. (He’ll have Red Robin shadow her back to Valhalla if a Valkyrie doesn’t show up when she leaves.)

“Who was it?” he asks.

She makes him uneasy. She knows that she makes him uneasy. He knows he could overpower her in combat. She knows that as well. They both can still recognize the low-level nervousness beneath his skin.

There’s something about her complete and total apathy that shakes him more than her list of crimes. Heh. Bruce would be horrified.

“Why do you care, God of Lies?” she asks, and clinks her nails across the table. They are chipped, just a bit, the glittery golden edges worn.

There is no use in lying to her. After all, Tim Wayne will never be an enemy that she feels the need to take down via words. She doesn’t take down her enemies using words.

She’ll be dead in less then a year.

“When do I not?” Tim asks. There is blood on the corner of his dark green sleeve. Sakhmet must’ve noticed it.

She’s also not a bat, so she probably doesn’t care.

“Lucifer.” She answers. There’s no game with it. She most likely doesn’t care enough to make it a game. “Ananke thought he might be dangerous. Dunno why she brought me though. Don’t care. We done?”

The fact that Sakhmet indulged him on his request to meet opens up too many questions. He doesn’t know her ulterior motive to coming, to answering his question and leaving. He doesn’t know why today was a day that she did decide to humor him.

He’s not going to get his answers from her.

“Sure,” Loki says. He has what he needs, and it’s unlikely she knows more. Unlikely she cares to remember more.

He looks out the window as she slams the door, and catches a glimpse of bright pink, relieving him of having to suit up to play reverse cat and mouse. That’s probably a good thing.

Sakhmet left her cup behind on the table. It takes a little too long for him to allow himself to melt back into Tim Wayne’s clothes.

So Lucifer was awakened.

Eleven out of twelve.

Fuck _._

**Author's Note:**

> \- Alright, y'all, here's the shimmy: I wrote this like, two years, posted it on my Tumblr, and then was done with it. However, I was updating my masterlist today, stumbled upon it again, and was like... huh. Why the fuck did I not cross-post this to Ao3? So I edited it a little bit, and now here I am, cross-posting it to Ao3.
> 
> \- In a Wicked + Divine AU, Tim would _totally_ be Loki, okay. 
> 
> \- Come talk to me on Tumblr! My more-active, Star Wars Tumblr is [@coruscantguard](https://coruscantguard.tumblr.com/) and my comics Tumbr is [@navndyne!](https://navndyne.tumblr.com/)


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